A Penang municipal councillor is outraged that his name has been used by unknown individuals to obtain cash from hawkers.

Councillor Ong Ah Teong claimed he has been informed of such incidents twice since his appointment to the local council in 2009.

He does not rule out an attempt by certain quarters to tarnish his reputation and undermine the good work of the MPPP or the state government.

"Such payments do not exist under the Pakatan administration. It may have happened previously (before 2008). I will not comment on that but there is no such thing now," he told Malaysiakini .

NONE Ong, ( right ) who is Public Health committee alternate chairperson, urged those involved not to be "heartless" and collect cash in his name from hawkers who are in the lower income group.

He claimed he had come to know about a recent incident when a Jelutong female hawker informed him about the matter.

The woman who sells newspapers told him a man in his 50s had approached her last year and collected RM150 to get her a licence to operate a stall at the Jelutong market.

Conman thwarted at 2nd attempt

"The same man came again in May and asked the woman for money to buy me a gift - a bottle of wine - as my birthday was approaching," said Ong, whose birthday happens to fall in June.

"She took the opportunity to ask him about her licence, but he merely replied that the councillors were busy as the general election was near," he added.

"This time she refused to give him more money and contacted me. However, she declined to appear in public but I have taken down her personal details," he said.

Ong has in his possession a ten-minute voice clip of the woman's confession which he played for reporters to hear.

Meanwhile, Ong warned that there are "no shortcuts" to obtaining a hawker's licence from the MPPP as full compliance to the procedures was necessary for approvals.

He added that the council had shortened the process whereby qualified hawkers can obtain licences much faster so long as the necessary requirements are met.

 Local council's helping hand

"There is no need for middlemen. Hawkers can come direct to us. We even have interview sessions to see if they are qualified at the end of every month," he said.

"These sessions and the shorter time line to obtain licences have been implemented by the council to weed out corruption," he added.

Ong cautioned the public not to hand over money to any individual claiming to represent him or MPPP officers and councillors.

He added that those approached by such persons, can report the matter to the MPPP by calling its 24-hour hotline at 04-263 7637/04-263 7000.

"The victims of such incidents can also lodge a report directly with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission," he said.

"Do not be conned by such unscrupulous and unprincipled behaviour," he added.